An Update

Hello All, 

Sorry I have not been posting much.

  I have had some rather challenging health issues recently (a very long run of severe migraines and back/neck pain) and had to take a (too short) three weeks off work.  I am feeling a tiny bit better today and decided to post some photos of Biscuit (I am not doing much decorating these days).

He loves to nap on the new linen sofa, but isn't allowed on it.  I was reading and had to get up for the phone and when I came back a while later, he had moved in:

This is by far his favorite spot in the house, even though he has a whole chair of his own and a kitty bed in the living room.

He was sound asleep, as though he had had a very challenging day:

When he finally woke up, he was NOT IMPRESSED!  He gave me his grouchy (feisty!) face and shortly after left the room...

Hope you are all having a lovely long summer...

xo T.

Summer Bed

In summer, we often sleep in the downstairs bedroom, as it's much cooler.

The room has great soft light and is very small and cosy. It has a great wall of bookshelves, as reflected in the mirror.  It is decorated primarily in white and blue (the walls are painted in Skylight by Farrow & Ball).

I like to put a thin quilt on the bed in summer.  It doesn't match the room (ivory-cream) but it is so old and soft that we like it very much.  Sometimes an imperfect thing is better than a perfect-looking thing.

Biscuit likes to sleep on the bed:

I am showing this photo in particular because of the knitted peach afghan (blanket) that my late Grandmother (Dad's Mum) made for me when I was in university.

She was quite a prolific knitter, but with 12 children and 23 grand-children, I was not first in line for a time-consuming blanket.  We were lucky to get socks and mitts when we were kids.  But in high school, I requested a knitted blanket and a couple of years later, I received this lovely double/queen-sized blanket for Christmas.  The colour was her choice (I think I was hoping for blue at the time).

I really love the colour now, as it adds a much-needed dose of comfy-cheeriness in my otherwise quite neutral home.    

She was a wonderful, kind lady who always sat down for tea when you came to visit and never seemed in a hurry.  I have so many fond memories of her and they often come to mind when I see this blanket.  What a gift!

Happy summer.

Subterranean Hallway Blues (sorry Mr.Dylan)

A busy but sleek hallway by gifted designer Stephen Knollenberg

Our house is a 4-level split, which means we have three floors of living space and a basement, all equally sized with about six stairs between each floor.  I grew up in a two-storey house and really wanted one for our own, but I have grown very fond of this arrangement.  I like having separate warrens of activity, and this arrangement affords that, like in old-fashioned houses!

Which leads me to the ugly bits of our house.  Because of this design, we have a partially subterranean floor, some of which is sorely out-of-date.  I will show you a full view of the family room at a later date (I promise it is very ugly apart from its gorgeous wood floor - think 1973...)

But the subject of today's post is this hallway, which needs some love...

The downstairs hallway is the epicenter of all these "utility" rooms.  Leading off this hallway is the family (tv) room at the far end (which has half-height windows with nice white wood shutters),  stairwells leading up and down on the left, a powder room on the left, and a spare bedroom and laundry to the right. There is also a big closet at the near end.

The photo below shows the view from the other end, where you can see the back door to the garden (which is accessed by a short flight of stairs):

It is a wonderfully busy space with all these doors.  And it has a rather ugly but perfectly fine floor!  We plan to replace all the mouldings one of these days, but in the meantime I am planning to paint them all white this summer.

I think a new blue slate floor would be lovely here.  But for now, I've decided to have a nice wide wool carpet runner custom-made to run almost the entire length.  I found a spot where I can get a deal on carpet, thanks to connections from my interior design class last year.

I'm also planning a small gallery of art on the one available long wall, but I'm still looking for options.  I would like something simple and clean, like botanical prints, architectural drawings, or perhaps line drawings. I adore sketches and have always loved this study of David by Raphael:

I am fond of this sketch of Antwerp by Durer:

On Saturday, I'm going to look at carpet samples.  The adventure begins!  

Do you have any ideas for transforming this dull space?

Biscuit and I shall await your replies.  And please don't suggest changing the floor unless you are willing to foward the funds.

For now, paying off our mortgage is my biggest dream...!

Kitty Love

Biscuit and I had a little photo shoot last weekend.  Hope you enjoy the photos.  I know - others never really understand the love we have for our cat.  The photos towards the end are the best - he really got into his modelling.  Lucky for me his fee is very low.

belly rub time...

pink nose...

lazy shadow chasing...

sun loving...

shadow stalking...

posing...

out takes...

a noise...

handsome kitty...

Biscuit *adoring* new Pottery Barn rug

I was so ferociously annoyed with Pottery Barn for selling me a damaged rug (see previous post) that I let Biscuit, my eccentric orange tabby, test-drive it a little while on Friday night.

I don't know why, but he seemed to *adore* the Arts & Craft stylings and vegetable soup colours of the new Adeline rug. Hmmm - do you think he recognizes the camouflage potential - allowing him to conceal his identity for optimal human stalking...? I really hope he adapts to the new mocha rug (on which he will be unable to hide).

Some photos of the damage: